Just Add Kittens
by daringestdevil
Summary: Originally posted on Tumblr. Prompt was "Castiel finding a box of kittens stuck in the rain." Campy? Maybe. Feel-good? Definitely. Crossposted on AO3 and beta'd by the lovely asterisk-s.


Castiel sat on the edge of the bed (he was still adjusting to thinking of the room as his) with his face buried in his hands. He'd never felt more…useless in his entire existence.

Sam and Dean had all but forced him to stay at the bunker with Kevin while they went out on a hunt just outside of the city. What initially looked like an easy vamp gank had turned out to be two different nests feuding over local feeding grounds, but it seemed they had no trouble putting aside their differences to take on the two hunters.

Sam was little worse for wear in the end. Dean, on the other hand, hadn't been so lucky. They returned around 3 the next morning with Sam supporting a quickly fading Dean who was spitting curses about "freaking West Side Story bullshit" and soaking a towel pressed to his torso with blood. The noise woke Castiel, and he'd hurried into the library just in time to help Dean into a chair as he passed out.

Sam worked as fast as he could to clean and stitch up the gash in his brother's side while Castiel checked over him for any other damage. If the swelling and bruising were any evidence, it looked like Dean's shoulder was dislocated as well. When Castiel insisted that he should've been there to help, Sam brushed him off saying that they'd been fine on their own and he was better off at the bunker recovering from his three week cross country hike anyway.

It wasn't difficult for Castiel to glean the actual meaning behind the words, and suddenly his chest felt too tight. They were better off without him. He was a liability as a human. Without his powers he was nothing but, "a baby in a trench coat," as Dean had once called him. The feeling of helplessness only strengthened as he watched Sam finish with the stitches and move on to check out the dislocated shoulder. He couldn't help with the hunt and now he couldn't even heal his friend in the aftermath.

He felt sick. He couldn't see Dean like this knowing there was nothing he could do to remedy it. Without a word, Castiel rushed back to his room and sunk down to the bed as he let the feeling suffocate him.

He was still there when the sun came up, the anger and sadness and overwhelming guilt long faded into emptiness. Castiel welcomed the numb feeling as he stood for the first time in hours and slowly walked to get his shoes and trench coat. He wasn't sure where he planned to go; he just needed to get out of the bunker for a while.

Kevin was at the table with a bowl of cereal and the angel tablet and grunted in acknowledgement as Castiel passed him.

"I'll be back," he mumbled without looking back at the boy. If Kevin said anything in response, it was missed in the creaking of the heavy iron door as Castiel stepped out into the fresh Kansas morning.

For a moment, he just stood there, taking in the view of the outside world. The sky was grey and the air was heavy with the morning fog. As an angel, the view would have been stunning; each droplet of water suspended in the air a prism of color and reflected sunlight. But now it was just…gross. The moisture stuck to his skin unpleasantly and his trench coat felt heavy and hot. For a moment, he longed for cool dry air, but the thought of going back inside made his stomach clench. Instead, Castiel began to walk.

Ahead of him, the tree-lined highway faded into grey in the distance. It was reminiscent of his first few days after his fall. On his way back to meet Sam and Dean, the roads had seemed like an endless stretch of asphalt. Then, it was a trial to be endured to get where he was needed. This time around, it was a reprieve from realizing that he was not.

As he walked, his mind swirled with thoughts of his fallen brothers and sisters. He wondered how many had been killed in their fall. How many knew that he was to blame. How many would care that he thought he was doing the right thing?

_Yeah, you always do._ Dean's words rang in his ears.

A drop of water on his face interrupted his thoughts and Castiel realized he didn't know how long he'd been walking. He looked up at the sky and another raindrop landed right in his eye. He wiped them both away as the raindrops increased in frequency and sighed as he turned around to walk back the way he came. As much as he didn't want to be in the bunker at the moment, he much preferred it to being caught soaking wet in the rain.

Castiel hadn't gone more than a few feet before he heard a noise that caused him to pause. For a moment he thought it was some kind of siren, but it was too high pitched and it sounded too close. It was silent for a few moments and Castiel resumed walking only to stop when he heard it once more. Now that he'd heard it twice, he was almost positive it was a cat. He turned around and scanned the side of the road. He was about to start walking back again when his eyes landed on a cardboard box a few yards away from the road.

Without hesitation, he walked over to it and crouched down. The box was taped shut, but there were holes in the top. Not entirely sure what he was about to find (but really not concerned) Castiel pulled the tape off of the box and opened the flaps.

Four sets of blue eyes blinked up at him. Castiel blinked back. There were four tiny kittens huddled around each other in the corner of the box. The white one cocked its head at him and meowed. Castiel let out a huff of amusement.

Just then, the spattering of raindrops turned into a steady drizzle and the four kittens flinched at the sudden wetness invading their warm, dry space. He quickly shut the flaps and carefully picked up the box. It rumbled a little as the tiny animals moved around inside, and he held it close to his body.

The walk back to the bunker didn't take long and just feet away from the door, the heavens opened up and it began to pour. Castiel made it inside slightly damp and the moisture caused his hair to hang in his eyes, but he'd managed to keep the box mostly dry.

He found the library and hallways to be mercifully empty and made it to his room without seeing anyone. He didn't think Sam or Dean would say anything about the box, but he didn't really care to find out. He carefully placed it on the bed and opened it again.

They were very pretty cats. There was the white one who'd meowed at him. She was the biggest of the four and had snowy white fur. Two of the kittens were almost identical, with sandy orange fur and extra long tails. The littlest one was a fluffy dark grey kitten and was currently peering over the edge of the box.

Castiel held his hand out to her and waited as she sniffed his fingers tentatively. It made him furious to think that someone had just abandoned them on the side of the road. It's not like they could fend for themselves. They needed somebody. And maybe they could need him. The grey kitten licked his hand once, her little pink tongue rough against his skin. In that moment, Castiel made up his mind. He was keeping them, whether the brothers liked it or not.

* * *

"Why the hell's he still shut up in his room? He was fine 'til we got back from that freaking vamp hunt. Now he's all Mr. Hermit," Dean grumbled and took a swig of his beer. He plopped down into the chair and winced. His side was still tender, even after two weeks. "You did a crap job on these stitches, Sammy."

His brother rolled his eyes. "Dude, stop taking your mood swings out on me. I did fine. And I told you, Cas wanted to come out on the hunt. He probably feels like if he'd been there you wouldn't have gotten hurt," Sam said without looking up from his book.

"He'd been on the road for three weeks! Guy was freaking exhausted. No way was he coming with us yet."

"Dean, he'd had a week to recuperate. He could've come. He was fine."

"Shut up."

Sam sighed and placed the book on the table. "Look, Dean. Either way, it bugged him. He'll snap out of it. You've just gotta give him time."

"Well, it's been two weeks. He needs to be over it now," Dean snapped. "All he does is hide out in his room and steal food to bring back. It ain't healthy."

"Have you tried talking to him?"

"I mean, when he comes out of his room, yeah. But he always says he's busy or some other crap."

"Then you go to him, dude. It's not that hard," Sam said, exasperated.

"Sammy – "

"Go."

"But – "

"_Go."_

* * *

Dean walked as slowly as he could down the hall to Cas's room. He groaned inwardly. He was no good at this kind of stuff. "Talking about our feelings" was Sam's territory.

He paused outside of the door. He could hear definite sounds of movement in the room. Maybe Cas really was in the middle of something. Maybe he just didn't wanna talk. Maybe Sam was right and he'd come around eventually. Maybe –

"Cut that out. I swear, you two are going to kill me," Cas said from behind the door. There was a soft chuckle. Dean's eyes narrowed. Who the hell was he talking to? He leaned in closer to hear better.

"Don't look at me like that. You knew she would retaliate. It's – No!" There was a sound of ripping fabric and then, "Are you kidding me, Meg? Seriously?"

_Meg? What the hell?_

Before he could stop himself, Dean was swinging the door open to see –

Cas. Alone. And holding a shredded white shirt. He had looked up, startled, and blanched when he saw it was Dean.

"Hello, Dean," he mumbled.

"Where is she?" Dean demanded. And then sneezed. Weird.

Castiel frowned. "Who?" he asked slowly.

"C'mon, man. Meg. I heard you talking to her. You planning on telling me what's going on?"

Cas just smirked. "You were listening at my door," he said. Dean sneezed again.

"Yeah, get over it. Now answer the damn – AGH!" Dean yelped as something sharp cut into his shin. He looked down just in time to see something grey and furry claw its way up his leg and then jump off to sprint under the bed. Dean's eyes snapped up to meet Castiel's and it was clear he was doing his best not to laugh out loud. Son of a bitch.

"That," Cas said chuckling, "was Meg."

Dean looked at the bed and back to Cas. "_A cat?"_

Castiel cleared his throat and leaned down to reach under the bed, pulling out the little grey tabby. "Four, actually." She snuggled into his arms as Dean stared on incredulously.

"_Four?"_ As if on cue, the trenchcoat on the bed started wiggling and two orange faces popped out of each of the arms. A fourth white kitten appeared from under the bed and wound itself around Cas's legs. Dean sneezed and all five pairs of blue eyes blinked.

Cas frowned, "I apologize. I didn't realize you were allergic."

Dean just shook his head. "So this is what you've been doing for the past two weeks."

"I wanted to make sure they were well behaved enough before I showed them to you, Sam, and Kevin," Cas confirmed, putting the grey kitten on the bed and crouching down to pet the white one.

Dean crossed his arms. "Well, great. I've met 'em. Now, you can get rid of 'em."

Cas looked up at him sharply. He stood and mimicked Dean's position with his arms crossed over his chest. "No," he said simply.

"You wanna run that by me again, buddy?" Dean asked.

"Dean, I'm not giving up the kittens," he said. His eyes glinted dangerously and there was fervor to his voice Dean hadn't heard since… well, since before Cas fell. "I know I'm of no use to you and Sam anymore, but th –"

"Hold up," Dean said, cutting him off. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Cas huffed impatiently. "I am a liability to you as a human. I'm less useful in a fight and I can't heal anymore. Don't interrupt," he said, and Dean shut his mouth because he had been about to. "But these kittens need me, Dean. I found them and therefore I am responsible for them. They don't have anyone else."

They were both quiet for a minute and Dean ran a hand over his neck as he processed.

"Cas," he said finally, "You're a moron if you think we only needed you 'cause of your mojo. I don't know how to get it through your thick skull that you're our family, man. And I need you here. Now, don't make me say it again," he finished.

Cas just frowned and nodded.

After another moment of silence, Dean cleared his throat and sat down on the bed next to the trenchcoat. "So, uh, how about you show me those weirdo cats of yours, huh?"

Castiel smiled slowly, still deep in thought about family and Dean and need. "Well," he said sitting on the bed next to Dean, "Meg, you've already met." They looked over at the kitten who was presently attempting to sharpen her claws on a book. Cas just shook his head and sighed. He picked up the two orange kittens that had since extracted themselves from the sleeves of the coat. "This is Samandriel and Balthazar." He handed them both to Dean who crinkled his nose in distaste.

Finally, the white kitten jumped up onto the bed and promptly curled up in Castiel's lap. "And this is Anna," he said quietly, looking down at her as she purred happily from her spot.

When Cas finally looked up, Dean had a strange expression on his face. "You named them after the angels in your garrison? And Meg?"

Castiel shrugged. "I wasn't feeling very creative. So I pulled from those that I cared about."

Dean chuckled. "Could be weirder." Neither of them spoke for a minute, Cas focused on the kitten in his lap and Dean trying to figure out what to say. The two kittens squirmed in his hands. "Still don't like 'em. But, uh, they can stay," he said putting Balthazar and Samandriel back on the bed. Cas's head snapped up and he had a small hopeful smile on his face. Dean stood and grimaced as he tried to brush the cat hair off to no avail. "I'm sure there's some mice or something hiding around here they can hunt."

"I imagine they would like that," Castiel said absently, returning his focus to petting Anna. "Thank you, Dean."

"Don't mention it," Dean said as he walked to the doorway. He lingered in the hallway for a moment watching Cas scratch the cat under its chin. Something warm curled in his chest and Dean immediately pushed it back down because that was definitely not something he was interested in examining right now. And then he went off in search of the first aid kit, crossing his fingers they had allergy medication on hand.

Because it looked like he was gonna need it.


End file.
